A group linked to the Ulster Defence Association warned DUPleader Ian Paisley yesterday that if he destroyed theBelfast Agreement they would not come to his aid.

"If there is blood to be spilled let Dr Paisley spill hisown blood because it will not be our bodies he will befighting over," said David Nicholl, a spokesman for theUlster Political Research Group, which is linked to theUDA.

He was responding to a speech made by Mr Paisley the daybefore in which he said that powersharing with Sinn Féinwould be "over our dead bodies". Mr Nicholl was speaking inDublin after talks between a delegation from hisorganisation and the Taoiseach.

He described Dr Paisley's speech rejecting powersharing onJuly 12th as "much ado about nothing" saying loyalists hadbeen listening to this kind of rhetoric for the past 35years. "We have been marched up the hill and down the hillmany times over that period," he said.

Mr Nicholl said his group had received assurances from theTaoiseach that there would be no imposition of "an Anglo-Irish agreement mark two" if the November 24th deadline forthe establishment of a powersharing executive in the Northwas not met. He said they had been pleased to hear theTaoiseach stress that "plan A" still stood and that he wascompletely focused on getting the Good Friday agreementimplemented in full.

Mr Nicholl said that, like the Taoiseach, his organisationwas fully committed to the agreement because it had beenvoted on by the people of the island.

He said there was no democratic mandate for joint authorityif powersharing could not be achieved. They were satisfiedthat the Taoiseach accepted that the constitutionalposition would remain unchanged because it had beenendorsed by the people.

Mr Nicholl also said there was an onus on republicans tosign up to policing and to convince people that they hadput an end to criminality.

Mr Ahern later described the meeting as "positive andfocused". The group briefed him on their conflicttransformation initiative and he said he welcomed ongoingefforts to bring about genuine transformation in loyalism.

Mr Ahern said the goal was the restoration of the Assemblyand Executive by November 24th and that this wasachievable, if the will was there to do so.

Democratic Unionist leader the Reverend Ian Paisley hasbeen accused of harming the prospects of political progressat Stormont after he said Sinn Fein would be in governmentover loyalists' dead bodies.

By:Press Association

Yesterday, in a hard-hitting speech to members of theIndependent Orange Order in Portrush, County Antrim, theDUP leader said: "Compromise, accommodation and the leastsurrender are the roads to final and irreversible disaster.

"There can be no compromise."

The North Antrim MP, who leads Northern Ireland`s largestpolitical party, insisted there could be no accommodationor surrender.

And on the issue of power-sharing with what he calledIRA/Sinn Fein, he said: "It will be over our dead bodies.

"Ulster has surely learned that weak, pushover unionism isa halfway house to republicanism."

His comments were criticised by Sinn Fein leader GerryAdams and by senior nationalist SDLP negotiator SeanFarren.

Mr Adams said the DUP leader`s remarks were offensive.

"Can anybody really be surprised?" the West Belfast MPasked.

"They are a challenge, not to us, but to the twoGovernments and a challenge particularly to the BritishGovernment.

"What Ian Paisley has in common with us is we havemandates. We respect his and he should respect ours."

With Prime Minister Tony Blair and Irish Taoiseach BertieAhern insisting that Northern Ireland`s Assembly membersmust agree to power-sharing by a deadline of November 24,Mr Farren warned the speech may have damaged any progressbeing made at Stormont.

"This rant by Paisley - and there is no other name for it -is the politics of the roadblock once again," the NorthAntrim SDLP Assembly member said.

"Phrases like `over our dead bodies` simply set everyoneback, including the elements in the DUP that are plainlykeen to see devolved government within some sort ofreasonable timetable.

"It is ultimately for the electorate and not Ian Paisley todecide who is fit for government.

"Let us hope that when the Twelfth is behind us once more,when the annual rush of blood to the head has worn off,wiser counsels will prevail once more in the DUP."

Loyalists tonight told the Taoiseach they would work toconvince their community there would be no sell-out in theNorthern Ireland political process.

David Nicholl of the Ulster Political Research Group(UPRG), which provides political analysis to the UlsterDefence Association (UDA), also insisted loyalistparamilitaries would not spill blood on any other unionistpolitical leader’s behalf.

After meeting in Dublin’s Government Buildings with BertieAhern, Mr Nicholl said: “We told the Taoiseach that wewould work within our particular constituency of loyalismto keep the calm, to persuade people there is no sell-outplan.

“That there is no betrayal, that there will be noimposition of any further agreement. There is oneagreement. People must sign up to it.”

The group was discussing current political initiatives torestore power-sharing in the North by the stated November24 deadline.

Mr Nicholl said the onus now lay on republicanism and SinnFéin to convince the unionist people of the North that theyhad abandoned criminality once and for all.

Mr Nicholl, who was speaking on behalf of the UPRGnegotiation team, said DUP leader the Rev Ian Paisley’sstatement that he would never share power with Sinn Féinshould be viewed in the light that he was addressingOrangemen at the time.

“It is the same rhetoric we have heard as loyalists for thepast 35 years. What we would say in relation to that is, wehave marched up the hill manys a time, and we have been letdown manys a time,” he said.

“But loyalism is not going to fill the grave or fillprisons for the next 35 years on no-one’s behalf. If thereis blood to be spilled then let Dr Paisley spill his ownblood, because it will not be our bodies he is climbingover.”

A meeting between Irish premier Bertie Ahern and a loyalistdelegation which included UDA leaders has taken place.

The meeting in Dublin was held to discuss currentinitiatives to restore power-sharing by 24 November.

The Ulster Political Research Group said Mr Ahern told themthere would be no joint-governmental authority over NI ifStormont was not reconvened.

A UPRG spokesman said they would now work within theloyalist community to maintain calm.

David Nicholl, of the UPRG, which provides politicalanalysis to the UDA, said: "We told the taoiseach that wewould work within our particular constituency of loyalismto keep the calm.

"(We want) to persuade people there is no sell-out plan,that there is no betrayal, that there will be no impositionof any further agreement.

"There is one agreement. People must sign up to it."

Mr Nicholl also said the taoiseach had given themassurances there would be "no imposition of an Anglo-Irish(Agreement) mark two".

"The Good Friday Agreement is the only way forward and wewelcome all the support that he has given us on our journeyand transformation as well and we look forward to workingwith him in the future," he said.

It is understood similar concerns were expressed at ameeting between a loyalist delegation and Secretary ofState Peter Hain at Stormont on Monday night.

DUP power-sharing

Referring to a statement made by DUP leader Ian Paisley onWednesday that he would never share power with Sinn Fein,Mr Nicholl said it should be viewed in light of the factthat he was addressing an Independent Orange Ordergathering.

"It is the same rhetoric we have heard as loyalists for thepast 35 years," he said.

"What we would say in relation to that is, we have marchedup the hill manys a time, and we have been let down manys atime.

"But loyalism is not going to fill the grave or fillprisons for the next 35 years on anyone's behalf.

"If there is blood to be spilled then let Dr Paisley spillhis own blood, because it will not be our bodies he isclimbing over."

Mr Ahern described the meeting as "positive and focused".

He said the goal was the restoration of the NorthernIreland Assembly and Stormont executive by 24 November andthat this was achievable, if the will was there to do so.

The taoiseach said if this was not achieved, the Irish andBritish governments would work together to move forwardwith the implementation of the Agreement.

'Nothing to fear'

He stressed the two governments' purpose was to protect thebenefits of the Agreement and loyalism had nothing to fearin this.

Mr Ahern said relationships had been twisted and blightedfor far too long and everyone had to make an effort to getit right for the future.

DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson said the UPRG had "no politicalmandate" and should respect his party's "huge mandate fromthe unionist community".

"We would call on the UPRG, instead of attacking fellowunionists, to use their mandate to bring about somemovement on the part of the Ulster Defence Association interms of ending criminality and terrorism and bringingabout the decommissioning of weapons," he said.

A Sinn Fein spokesman said the party welcomed the fact thedialogue had taken place.

He called for the UPRG to work to bring about "an end toattacks on Catholics, an end to drug dealing and an effortto engage with the Independent International Commission OnDecommissioning".

Communities in all quarters of the city were againsubjected to the spectre of sectarian Eleventh Nightshenanigans, and left to foot the bill of the wantondestruction caused to public roads and property.

In the East Belfast interface estate of Cluan Place,overlooking the nationalist Short Strand enclave, loyalistserected a wooden box with the names of at least two hungerstrikers, Bobby Sands and Kevin Lynch, on top of the fire.

The sickening insult, which occurs on the 25th anniversaryof the hunger strikes, appears to be part of a coordinatedaction as flags and posters with the names of republicanvolunteers were also set alight on a bonfire in theShankill.

In the North of the city, motorists’ lives were put at riskas the PSNI looked on as youths spent days casuallybuilding a bonfire on a blind corner of the Crumlin Road.Unsuspecting motorists were forced to swerve on to theother side of the busy road to avoid colliding with thebonfire which took up an entire side of the road. Youthsalso erected a sign at the foot of the structure with ‘KAT’(‘Kill All Taigs’) in large painted lettering.

In Stoneyford village loyalists had smashed open the gatesof a local reservoir to build a bonfire on land belongingto the Water Service.

Despite the youths having broken into the site over afortnight ago the huge mass of tyres and wood was notremoved. A number of Sinn Féin electoral posters, includingone of party president Gerry Adams, were attached to theirbonfire, as was one SDLP poster.

The louts reserved a section at the top of the fire for animage of Lisburn councillor Paul Butler – as well as alarge and crude painted insult to him. He has highlighted acampaign of attacks on nationalists in the mixed community.The bonfire came at the climax of a controversial parade inwhich Cllr Butler claims leading loyalists breached aParades Commission ruling. He says that loyalists walkedacross fields before the march started to get close to themixed Stonebridge Meadows in order to intimidate Catholicswith threatening gestures.

“Residents living in Stonebridge Meadows who I spoke tofelt very threatened and intimidated by the behaviour ofthese bandsmen,” said Paul Butler.

“The only motive for this act can be a sectarian andintimidatory one, and I will be calling on the ParadesCommission to take this into consideration when ruling onany future parades by this band in the village.”

Upper Falls Sinn Féin Councillor Paul Maskey criticised theoffensive slogans and effigies attached to the sectarianbonfires across the city and further afield.

“This is the 25th anniversary of the 1981 hunger strike andthe families of these men are still alive and it must beawful for them to hear that their sons, brothers, andfathers’ names are on the top of bonfires.

“This shows that they are sectarian events run andorganised by bigots, and many of those who attend them areprobably bigots. They have no respect for nationalists andrepublicans.

“Then you look at Belfast City Council who fund a number ofbonfires and the British government who have recently giventhem thousands of pounds to create an ‘Orange-fest’,” hecontinued. “It’s sad that the government and council arehelping them to do this and I will be asking them to ceaseuntil the Orange Order and bonfire organisers get theiracts in order.”

Asked why they did nothing to prevent the above bonfires, aPSNI spokesperson said, “PSNI will fully investigate anycomplaints in relation to breach of the peace, or anyallegations of law-breaking in relation to Eleventh Nightcelebrations.

“The community and other agencies as well as police have aduty of care to ensure the safety of those involved oraffected by the celebrations. To this end if police believea bonfire may have an unsafe impact they liaise withcommunity representatives to ensure the moving of thebonfire to a safer distance, or indeed its entire removal."Editorial, page 6.

Sinn Féin leaders including Gerry Adams yesterdayelaborated on why the party had direct contact with thePSNI ahead of Wednesday night's controversial Orange Orderfeeder parade in Ardoyne, north Belfast.

While Sinn Féin and DUP politicians yesterday spoke of anew potential for nationalist/unionist accommodation overparades based on the peaceful outcome so far this year ofthe "marching season", some significance was also attachedto the fact that Sinn Féin liaised closely with the police.

On Wednesday night Mr Adams told The Irish Times that atArdoyne, Sinn Féin "kept very close contact" with the PSNIto help ensure the peaceful outcome of the parade after theserious violence at the same parade in 2004 and 2005.

It is not uncommon to witness Sinn Féin figurescommunicating with police officers at such flashpointscenes, notwithstanding Sinn Féin's refusal to endorse thePSNI. But what appeared notable in recent days was SinnFéin's willingness to talk about this contact.

In a statement following on from his Wednesday nightcomments, Sinn Féin president Mr Adams said yesterday:"Sinn Féin also took the step of speaking with the PSNI innorth Belfast before the [ Ardoyne] parade to ensure thatthe violent scenes of last year, when the PSNI and Britishtroops attacked local residents, were not repeated. Ourparty was represented by Gerry Kelly."

Mr Kelly, at a press conference in Belfast yesterday, said:"There were a couple of meetings with senior policeofficers. Our intent was to de-escalate the situation,demilitarise it."

DUP MP Gregory Campbell also referred to the potential forprogress based on this year's calm Twelfth.

In a statement yesterday headlined "Twelfth to herald newdawn?" he said: "Despite the minor setbacks it is justpossible that July 2006 might start to change mindsets thatwill help in the longer-term goal of durable peace and realtolerance in Northern Ireland."

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams MP speaking in Belfast thismorning said "The work of nationalist residents andrepublican activists, which was crucial in ensuring thatthings remained peaceful yesterday, is only sustainable inthe long term if the Loyal Orders engage and reach localaccommodations. Sinn Féin's goal is to ensure a peacefulOrange marching season. Forcing triumphalist orange paradesthrough nationalist areas is wrong. That is the lesson ofyesterday's successful outcomes. Dialogue works."

Mr. Adams said:

"Yesterday dozens of Orange parades took place in towns andvillages across the Six Counties and in large part thingsremained peaceful. The reason for this is the work done byresidents and the restraint shown by nationalistcommunities, despite their anger that controversial orangeparades were forced through their areas. I want to commendthe efforts made by republican activists who were on theground in flashpoint areas throughout the last 24 hours.Over 700 republican stewards were on the ground atflashpoint areas across the six counties.

"Martin McGuinness was on the ground in Maghera, PhilipMcGuigan in Dunloy, Pat Doherty in Castlederg, John O'Dowdin Lurgan and myself and Gerry Kelly in Ardoyne. There wasalso contact in some areas with representatives of unionismand Protestant churchmen. I want to make it clear that theDUP played no positive role in any of this. Sinn Féin alsotook the step of speaking with the PSNI in North Belfastbefore yesterdays parade to ensure that the violent scenesof last year when the PSNI and British troops attackedlocal residents were not repeated. Our party wasrepresented by Gerry Kelly.

"The work of nationalist residents and republicanactivists, which was crucial in ensuring that thingsremained peaceful yesterday, is only sustainable in thelong term if the Loyal Orders engage and reach localaccommodations. Sinn Féin's goal is to ensure a peacefulOrange marching season. Forcing triumphalist orange paradesthrough nationalist areas is wrong. That is the lesson ofyesterday‚s successful outcomes. Dialogue works.

"There are also a number of very worrying trends this year.These include the role of the Parades Commission which hasshown a very clear political bias in relation to keydeterminations. Their decision to force contentious paradesthrough nationalist areas put a huge strain on localcommunities and the political process.

"There were also a series of unacceptable sectarianincidents including the erection of a flag in the Ballymenaarea referring to Michael McIlveen, a young catholic mankilled in a sectarian attack only two months ago. Orangebonfires across the north burned images of the 1981 HungerStrikers, Sinn Féin representatives and banners withslogans such as 'Kill All Taigs'. And last night on theOrmeau bridge members of the Orange Order, wearing sashes,held up five finger salutes, to mock the five peoplemurdered by loyalists in Grahams bookies on the Ormeau Roadin 1992. The silence of unionist political leaders inrelation to the majority of these incidents speaks volumes.

"In contrast Sinn Fein has proactively condemned attacks onOrange Order property. Such attacks are totally wrong.Sectarianism from whatever quarter is unacceptable andplays into the hands of the bigots.

"I believe that it is time for the Loyal Orders to reviewtheir attitude to their nationalist neighbours and theyshould be led in this effort by their political leaders inthe unionist parties. Dialogue and agreement is the onlyway to resolve these issues. Sinn Féin stand ready to meetwith the representatives of the marching orders at anytime.We uphold the right of the Orange Order to march. Butclearly they have to talk to their neighbours so thatmarches are conducted in a way acceptable to everyone.

"There is a need for tolerance, we recognise that orange isone of our national colours, but there is no longer anyspace for the tolerance of bigoted, sectarian coat trailingexercises. The quiet Twelfth was achieved through a lot ofvery hard work, but it all points to the need for people totalk." ENDS

A senior Democratic Unionist tonight rejected claims byGerry Adams that his party did nothing to help deliverpeaceful Twelfth of July Orange Order marches.

East Londonderry MP Gregory Campbell disputed Mr Adam'sclaims after the Sinn Fein leader revealed his party tookpart in groundbreaking discussions with the Police Serviceof Northern Ireland in advance of yesterday's controversialOrange Order parade past the Nationalist Ardoyne area ofBelfast.

"Over 700 republican stewards were on the ground atflashpoint areas across the Six Counties (NorthernIreland)," the Sinn Fein leader revealed.

"Martin McGuinness was on the ground in Maghera, PhilipMcGuigan in Dunloy, Pat Doherty in Castlederg, John O'Dowdin Lurgan and myself and Gerry Kelly in Ardoyne.

"There was also contact in some areas with representativesof unionism and Protestant churchmen. I want to make itclear that the DUP played no positive role in any of this."

Mr Kelly confirmed he held talks with police about thesecurity operation around the Ardoyne parade.

They took place despite Sinn Fein's refusal to endorse thePolice Service of Northern Ireland.

As a result there were no British Army soldiers in the areaor huge security screens erected to keep nationalistprotestors at bay from the Orange march.

Police also pulled out of the area within 20 minutes of theOrangemen walking up the road and their supporters beingbussed up.

Mr Adams said: "I believe that it is time for the LoyalOrders to review their attitude to their nationalistneighbours and they should be led in this effort by theirpolitical leaders in the unionist parties.

"Dialogue and agreement is the only to resolve theseissues.

"Sinn Fein stands ready to meet with the representatives ofthe marching orders at any time.

"We uphold the right of the Orange Order to march but theyclearly have to talk to their neighbours so that marchesare conducted in a way acceptable to everyone."

The DUP's Gregory Campbell insisted his party had beeninvolved behind the scenes for a number of years in tryingto ensure a peaceful parading season took place.

"This contrast with Gerry Adams who has been quoted assaying that nationalist residents groups didn't come aboutby accident," the East Londonderry MP said.

"While republicans have been creating the difficulties, wehave been trying to resolve them so any criticism from thatquarter will be treated with contempt."

"A frenzy of misunderstanding and distortion" over theextradition of three British bankers on fraud chargesthreatened to damage US-UK relations further, BaronessScotland, a UK Home Office minister sent to Washington on adamage control mission, warned on Thursday.

Coming on top of public discontent over the Iraq war andallegations of mistreatment of detainees at Guantánamoprison, Baroness Scotland said the uproar over the "NatWestThree" had been used to push the image of the UK as apoodle of the US.

"We have not ever been poodles," she said. "The bulldog isstill very much there?.?.?.?and has big teeth," she added.

The three men – David Bermingham, Gary Mulgrew and GilesDarby – appeared before a media throng outside a southLondon court on Thursday morning before flying to Houston.

They will be taken into federal court in Houston today forinitial appearances that could resolve whether they receivebail on Enron-related fraud charges.

Their extradition came a day after a body believed to bethat of a possible witness in their investigation wasdiscovered in east London.

Baroness Scotland is urging US senators to speedratification of the 2003 extradition treaty at the heart ofthe controversy.

She repeated comments by Tony Blair, the UK prime minister,that the US authorities had indicated that bail would begiven, but she expressed doubt that they would be allowedto return to the UK while awaiting trial.

Before meeting top US senators and officials, BaronessScotland directed her fiercest comments at the defencelawyers, media and opposition politicians in the UK whomshe accused of using "smoke and mirrors" to distort thefacts about the 2003 treaty.

This had become a tool to "besmirch" the good relationsbetween the UK and US, she said.

But she also warned that the US should have got a "wake-upcall" when such staunch allies as Margaret Thatcher, theformer Conservative UK prime minister, and Tom King, formerdefence secretary, both lined up as members of the House ofLords to vote to exclude the US from the treaty on Tuesday.

She also said she wanted a better explanation of why the USSenate had found time to ratify treaties with other states,but not its good ally, the UK.

Richard Lugar, the Republican chairman of the committee,has declared his support for ratification but warned thatit may not get on to the Senate schedule this year.

Baroness Scotland dismissed as "spin" claims by Irish-American lobbyists that the treaty would be used as a fast-track for extradition for supporters of the Irishnationalist cause, arguing that the UK had "moved on" withthe 1998 Good Friday agreement and releases of republicanprisoners. The UK had no outstanding extradition warrantsof related cases in the US and these were dealt with in aseparate 1986 agreement anyway, she said.

Two senior Democratic senators – Chris Dodd and John Kerrywho have strong Irish-American ties and may take a shot atthe 2008 presidential race – decided not to take up theopportunity to meet Baroness Scotland, according to a UKaide. Both are also on the Senate foreign relationscommittee, which is due to hold a hearing on the treatynext week.

The case is unlikely to generate the following that otherEnron trials did because the big case – against the lateKen Lay and Jeff Skilling, Enron's former chief executives– is over. Five years after the collapse of Enron shookHouston to its core, resulting in job losses, businessclosures and damaged reputations, the city and itsresidents are ready to move on.

Additional reporting by Sheila McNulty in Houston, EllenKelleher in London and Sheila McNulty in Houston

THE NatWest Three were due to apply for bail today afterspending last night in a Texas prison cell as the politicalstorm over their extradition to the United States refusedto subside.

Bankers Gary Mulgrew, the son of Labour MSP Trish Godman,David Bermingham and Giles Darby were separated and flankedby US marshals on the trans-Atlantic flight early yesterdaymorning after the British government refused to intervenein the case.

The men were banned from talking to each other or thepress. Before his departure from Gatwick airport yesterday,Mr Bermingham said he had been let down by the government.

The row intensified after Baroness Scotland, a Home Officeminister, flew to Washington in an effort to urge Senatorsto ratify the 2003 extradition treaty at the centre of thecontroversy, which critics claim is skewed in favour of theUS.

She also accused the bankers of mounting a highly skilledPR campaign to win over the public. She said thegovernment's opponents were guilty of "political posturing"while the press had "distorted" the facts of the case.

The men hope to be granted bail today, although if theirapplication is refused they could face up to two years indetention until their case goes to trial.

Mark Spragg, the men's lawyer, said he did not believe thethree former bankers would get a fair trial because theywould struggle to get witnesses to travel from the UK. Headded:

They would definitely get a fair fight in England."

The controversy took a dramatic turn on Monday when thebody of Neil Coulbeck, a former executive at the Royal Bankof Scotland was discovered in a park in East London. MrCoulbeck had been interviewed by the FBI in relation to thecase and friends said he described the experience as"traumatising".

It was alleged yesterday that his evidence could havehelped the NatWest Three, who stand accused of an £11million fraud connected to the collapse of Enron. MrCoulbeck had left a suicide note for his wife when hedisappeared last Thursday.

It emerged yesterday he had attempted suicide days before,but on the first occasion he was apparently disturbed byhis wife at home. On 6 July, he left the house saying thathe was going for a walk. His wife found a suicide noteseveral hours later in which he described how he loved herand apologised for what he was about to do.

A friend of the family said: "She knew he would not becoming back and she told the police why. He had been putthrough the wringer by the FBI and he was in a very fragileemotional state. The family are extremely angry with theway the FBI dealt with things. They feel he was put underunbearable pressure."

In Washington, Baroness Scotland admitted that coverage ofthe accused bankers' public relations campaign had damagedthe "special relationship" between the United States andthe United Kingdom.

The bankers, she said, have "done one of the best PR jobs Ihave ever seen" helped by what she described as "a frenzyof misunderstanding and distortion".

Her visit, she said, was an "opportunity to explain theanger and concern that has been expressed in the UK" aswell as a chance for the government to hear a "betterexplanation" for the delay in ratifying the treaty signedthree years ago.

The Irish-American lobby has expressed concerns thatupdating the extradition arrangements between the twocountries could make it easier for the UK to extraditeIrish terrorist suspects. The minister dismissed thoseconcerns out of hand. "That's another dead duck" she said,noting that there were no outstanding warrants to extraditeanyone for trial on terrorism charges pertaining toNorthern Ireland.

Baroness Scotland held meetings with Alberto Gonzales, theUS attorney general, and White House officials, as well aswith Bill Frist, the Senate majority leader, and five othersenators.

Other senators, including John Kerry and Connecticut'sChris Dodd, who have helped delay the treaty'sratification, declined the opportunity to meet theminister.

Baroness Scotland said she would use the fact that as pro-American a politician as Lady Thatcher had voted with themajority in the House of Lords to suspend the treatypending US ratification as a way of demonstrating the depthof feeling in Britain over the matter. "If that doesn'tconcentrate minds I don't know what will," she said.

Hannah Ali, whose sister Sarah Ali died in the 2001 attackson the World Trade Center in New York on Sept 11, hascondemned the UK's plans to extradite a British Muslim toface terrorist charges in the US.

Hannah and Sarah grew up in London with Babar Ahmad, who iscurrently appealing an extradition request under Britain'scontroversial Extradition Act 2003. Their families lived inthe same street and have been friends for 25 years.

"Things have been done and unfair laws passed in the nameof my sister," she said in a statement obtained by IRNA.

"I am horrified at what has happened to Babar. It is likehe is being kidnapped, and our government is aiding theprocess. His allegations should be tried in a Britishcourt. I know that Babar will not receive a fair trial inAmerica."

Ahmad, a computer expert from London's prestigious ImperialCollege, has been accused of running websites allegedlyurging Muslims to fight a holy war.

In his appeal on Wednesday, his lawyer, Edward Fitzgerald,warned that that there was "a real risk of fundamentalinjustice and discriminatory treatment" if he was sent tothe US.

A report last month also warned that the Britishgovernment's handling of Ahmad's case "lopsided"extradition arrangements with the US and succeeded in"radicalizing a new generation of British Muslims."

A second British Muslim, Haroon Aswat, who was arrested inZambia nearly two years ago, is also appealing againstattempts to extradite him to face charges of plotting toset up a camp in the US to train fighters for war inAfghanistan.

Their appeal coincides with three bankers flying to the USThursday to face fraud charges arising from the Enroncollapse scandal under a warrant obtained under the UK'sextradition treaty with the US, which requires no primafacie evidence.

It also comes as the British government was sending HomeOffice Minister Baroness Scotland to Washington to appealto the US Senate to end its three-year delay and ratify theextradition treaty.

The failure of the US to ratify its side of the deal, whichwould widen the grounds on which US citizens can beextradited to Britain, has added to the growing criticismagainst the treaty.

A Shankill Road community radio station has been slammedfor repeatedly playing an offensive sectarian song.

An angry nationalist listener contacted the AndersonstownNews this week having tuned into Shankill FM and heard theoffensive song, ‘King Billy’s on the Wall’.

The song has become a cult hit among loyalists due to itsinflammatory lyrics and has been played repeatedly on thecommunity radio station.

Its lyrics refer to a Sandy Row mural which tells the Pope‘where he can go and what he can do’.

More sinisterly, it goes on to mention Lower OrmeauResidents’ Action Group member Gerard Rice by name, saying:‘Go take the Lower Ormeau Road and stick it up your ass’.

The radio station broadcasts on a temporary licence overthe summer and Christmas periods and finished its mostrecent run on Tuesday. The station comes under the scrutinyof the watchdog, the Office of Communications (OFCOM).Gerard Rice said that he will be making a complaint toOFCOM about Shankill FM playing the song.

“This is totally irresponsible, given that they aresupposed to be a community radio station.

“I am concerned that they have identified me in this song.Everything for these people has to have a hate figure. TheLower Ormeau has had a long history of suffering – we havehad 55 residents killed at the hands of loyalists and yetthey still target residents and make us hate figures.”

Upper Falls Sinn Féin councillor Paul Maskey said thatShankill FM should have any future application for abroadcasting licence refused unless they provide assurancesthat they will not play sectarian songs. The song issectarian in nature and it is disturbing that they arenaming individuals as they may well end up being targetedby loyalists. Licence regulators should take steps toprevent Shankill FM from playing such music, especially asit comes at the time of year which can only be described asthe crazy season.”

The Manager of Shankill FM, Pheme Brown, defended theirplay-list and said that King Billy’s on the Wall was partof Unionist culture.

“This is the biggest day in our cultural calendar. Ifpeople don’t like what they hear they can turn off. This isa cultural broadcast, we stand by anything that we say andplay. We have had umpteen complaints through peoplecontacting our radio station about things that have beensaid on Féile FM, but we don’t run to the papers. We thinkthis is very petty,” she said.

As the pacemaker leading Northern Ireland's Orange Orderdown a novel political route, Drew Nelson has none of theparade-ground swagger of a drum major. The bespectacledsolicitor from Dromore, County Down, is an articulate,affable and thoughtful figure; there is no resort tobombast or outraged self-righteousness.

His belief that the order must convert its "demonstrations"into festivals if it is to flourish has been broadlywelcomed. His ambition is for an Orangefest to rivalLondon's Notting Hill carnival.

That this year's July 12 parades passed off without seriousincident is partially a tribute to the persuasiveness ofthe grand secretary of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland insteering the order away from overt confrontation.

To resentful nationalists and republicans, the Orange Orderhas symbolised the unionist majority asserting itspolitical dominance. Battles over the Drumcree parade, whenOrangemen attempted to parade along the nationalistGarvaghy Road, epitomised that combative spirit. But thoseritualised engagements ended with the creation of theParades Commission to adjudicate on controversial paradedecisions. The end of the road came last September when theWhiterock parade was blocked by police on the edge of westBelfast. Loyalist frustration exploded. Scores of roundswere fired at police, and cars were hijacked and torched.

Mr Nelson, 49 and a law graduate from Queen's University,is committed to redirecting the order. He is single andworks long into the evenings on grant applications andorganising Orange lodge activities. He stood as an UlsterUnionist party candidate and has been leader of Banbridgecouncil.

He is not a stereotypical Orangeman. He says he doesn'thave a bowler hat and is not a teetotaller, enjoying a goodglass of wine. Irish history is a fascination. He hastravelled to study carnivals in the Basque country andNotting Hill.

He is determined to abolish the Parades Commission butaccepts the need for external regulation of public events.Through a series of ground-breaking meetings with the RomanCatholic church, the nationalist Social Democratic andLabour party and the Irish government, Mr Nelson hasdemonstrated a refreshing willingness to engage indialogue.

Critics suspect the charm offensive is more a matter ofrepackaging the Orange Order than about fundamental change.But political opponents pay tribute to his efforts.Alasdair McDonnell, the SDLP MP for South Belfast, said:"He's bringing common sense to the Orange Order. I won'talways agree with him but I certainly respect what he istrying to achieve. He has always been warm and friendly andhe's not displayed the narrowness often associated with theOrange Order."

David Jones, district secretary of the Portadown lodge ofthe Orange Order, praised Mr Nelson's role. "The orderneeds to have people like him who can explain what theinstitution is about to the general public. Perhaps therewas a bit of kneejerk reaction by us [in the past]. Nowpeople realise there's different ways of presenting anargument ... rather than actually physically fighting."

The former UUP MP David Burnside backs Mr Nelson's drive tomodernise the order, which has drifted away from itsmiddle-class and professional membership. "Drew is anexperienced, bright individual and a businessman who thinkslike a lot of us that the order ... has to move with thetimes. He recognises the organisation has to re-engage withthe wider community."

Mr Nelson has had significant success, helping the order tosecure a £100,000 government grant for a developmentofficer to promote carnival-style parades as touristattractions in Belfast. He maintains he wants to break the"siege mentality" of many Protestants, a group he hasdescribed as a distinct ethnic minority. The Orange Order,he has said, is about demonstrating "Protestant culture".

Despite the calls to make parades more inclusive, there arestill taboos. The order refuses to talk to residents'groups it believes are controlled by Sinn Féin. Nor canOrange Order members be practising Catholics. Women'slodges, Mr Nelson has also admitted, "have to askpermission from their senior authorities" to take part inparades.

:: Career Qualified solicitor, 1981; set up own practice,1983. UUP parliamentary candidate for South Down, 1992; UUPcouncillor, Banbridge, 1993-97. Orange district master, CoDown; grand secretary of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland,2005-; member of UUP until 2004, when he moved to DUP.

He says "I would like to see the Twelfth of July become atourist attraction. It's one of the most colourfulspectacles. Only the Notting Hill carnival can beat it inthe British Isles."

Dublin republicans will hold a vigil at the GPO onO'Connell Street today, 13th July at 12.30pm to mark the25th Anniversary of the death of IRA Volunteer MartinHurson who died after 46 days on hunger strike. Events arealso taking place today and over the weekend in Tyrone,Belfast, Longford, Derry, Cork, Louth, Cavan and Down.

Speaking in advance Dublin Councillor Larry O'Toole said:

" Martin Hurson was from Cappagh in East Tyrone. He wasjust 24 years of age when he died on July 13th after 46days on Hunger Strike. He was a candidate inLongford/Westmeath in 1981 General Election and receivedmassive support from the people of those counties.

"The events of 1981 were a watershed moment and thesacrifices made by the men in Long Kesh and the women inArmagh Jail remain with us to this day. I would encourageDubliners to get involved in the events in Dublin tomorrowand indeed throughout the year as we seek to remember thhunger strikers who died in 1981 and build the sort ofIreland which is peaceful, free, united and democratic."ENDS

Attempts by the Irish Government to broker a deal betweenShell and the so-called Rossport Five has failed.

Trade union official Peter Cassells, who was appointed byIrish Minister for Natural Resources Noel Dempsey as anindependent mediator, said he could not find any agreementbetween the two sides over the disputed Corrib gas pipelinein Co Mayo.

His announcement today follows seven months of intensivediscussions between Shell and the five Co Mayo men.

The men spent more than 90 days in prison last year forrefusing to obey a court injunction ordering them to stopobstructing work on the pipeline.

Mr Cassells is now due to deliver a report within twoweeks.

The report will cover the issues raised by the parties andmake a comprehensive set of recommendations on a possibleway forward.

It will deal with safety concerns, the route of thepipeline, and compensation for landowners among otherissues.

Sinn Féin TD for Louth Arthur Morgan has said therevelations about the arrest and release of an SAS gang inCounty Louth in 1976, which appears in this mornings IrishNews, raises fundamental questions.

Deputy Morgan said:

“These revelations raise a number of very seriousquestions. At this time at least four people were murderedin mysterious circumstances in the border area, includingSeamus Ludlow and Peter Cleary here in County Louth. Nobodywas ever charged with these killings although loyalists orelements of the British state were always suspected.

“The confidential documents published in the Irish Newsthis morning also reveal an alarming attitude displayed bythe Irish government of the day and in particular theJustice Minister of the time Paddy Cooney. They were alltoo willing to play along in a cover-up being orchestratedby Downing Street rather than standing up and demandinganswers on behalf of the Irish people. His attitude andthat of the government he was part of is disgraceful. Heeven goes as far as to say that if he had heard of theincident first he would have ensured the safe return of theSAS gang with no questions asked.

“Paddy Cooney’s conduct and that of the Fine GaelAdministration requires close scrutiny and I believe thatthese revelations will be the tip of the iceberg regardingthe shameful relationship he and the administration carriedon with the British authorities behind the backs of theIrish people.” ENDS

The peace process has continued to make breakthroughs andgestures that not long before were consideredimpossibilities, writes Kevin Cullen

It is an extraordinary scenario: on his deathbed, a RomanCatholic priest reaches out for the man who once loudlydenounced his leader, his Holy Father, as the antichrist.

That Mgr Denis Faul would make a deathbed plea to the RevIan Paisley to stick to his guns, as it were, on the issueof the "disappeared" is not that surprising.

Father Faul, as many of us called him long after hiselevation to Monsignor, was nothing if not shrewd. He wouldhave surveyed the political landscape and realised that theonly person with the political capital, and incentive, tospend on an issue he held so fiercely was Dr Paisley.

Denis Faul and Ian Paisley dug with a different foot. Butas men of the cloth they were cut from the same cloth:deeply conservative on social issues, deeply pious in theirreligious beliefs, warm and gregarious in person in spiteof their dour public images.

And so, because of Mgr Faul's deathbed intervention, DrPaisley has spoken to, and will soon meet, Vera McVeigh,whose son, Columba, was murdered and secretly buried by theIRA in 1975. Mrs McVeigh is a sweet, lovely woman who wantsnothing more than give her son a Christian burial.

That she still sits, 30 years on, tortured by the unknown,is one of the Trouble's cruelest legacies.

Mrs McVeigh, a Catholic, said she drew great strength fromDr Paisley's attention. Her faith in Ian Paisley is not anisolated case.

Earlier this year, another man I met many years ago inBelfast, a well-known loyalist named Raymond McCord, metGerry Adams, saying he believed Mr Adams could help him getanswers to the 1997 unsolved murder of his son, who wasbeaten to death by a UVF gang.

McCord believes his son's killers include informers who arebeing protected by the police.

Mr Adams said Mr McCord was not the only person from aunionist background who has sought him out to get to thebottom of the unsolved murders of their loved ones.

Just a few years ago, someone from Ray McCord's backgroundgoing up to Gerry Adams's office on the Falls Road would bedismissed as having something of a death wish.

But things change. Attitudes change. For all the talk of apeace process in crisis, for all the angst over theimpending November 24th deadline, there has been a visceralchange in the political culture of the North, and of thewhole island.

Mr McCord didn't stop at Mr Adams. He called on theTaoiseach, asking for support in his demand for a fullinquiry.

"I'm giving Bertie Ahern the opportunity to show they areconcerned about unionist victims, too," said Mr McCord.

Some might argue that Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams are usingthe anguish of Vera McVeigh and Ray McCord for their ownnarrow political agendas. Dr Paisley, after all, can saythe DUP won't share power with Sinn Féin because it remainsinextricably linked to an organisation that continues totorture Vera McVeigh by refusing, or being unable, toreturn her murdered son's body.

Mr Adams, after all, can point to cases like Mr McCord'sand say Sinn Féin will not join the board overseeing apolice force still peopled by the kind of officers whowould protect UVF murderers.

But, whatever Dr Paisley's or Mr Adams's motives are inmeeting with and helping those from a community not oftheir own, the significance is that it is the victims'loved ones who wanted the meeting and the help.

In keeping with his beliefs, Mgr Faul would appear to behaving an impact beyond his earthly life: the recentcontroversy over the fate of Jean McConville, and theCabinet's expected approval of a new approach to find thefive bodies of the remaining "disappeared", whom the IRAadmit to killing but whose bodies have not yet beenrecovered, suggests this is an issue that will "not goaway, you know".

A new paradigm is emerging on the island of Ireland, whereold labels don't apply. When Sinn Féin and the DUP toppedthe polls a few years back, most pundits suggested themoderates lost and the extremists gained.

But is it really accurate to still call Sinn Féin and theDUP extremists when they are democratically chosen bysizable majorities in their own communities?

In any post-conflict society, it is the former extremistswho cement the peace. They, after all, are the ones whowere fighting.

The DUP and Sinn Féin have supplanted more moderate rivalswithin their own communities despite their inextricablelinks to loyalism and the IRA, not because of them. SinnFéin does not canvass for votes by winking at nationalistsand saying: "If the unionists don't play ball, we'll goback to war."

It sells itself as being better than the SDLP at gettingpotholes filled and keeping the neighbourhood health clinicopen, and it has steadily attracted a growing number ofmiddle-class voters who once voted for the SDLP.

Both Sinn Féin and the DUP have also gained support byportraying themselves as best suited to holding the otheraccountable. They claim to be more principled than the so-called moderates, who, they say, want peace at any cost.

Some conclude that, as a result, the two parties willjointly create a perpetual stalemate. But such an analysisignores the fact that both parties' leaderships want towield power more than old slogans.

While Paisley thunders on, demanding the disbanding of theIRA, other DUP officials have worked with Sinn Féin onlocal councils, and presumably would work with Sinn Féin atthe Assembly level if a compromise can be reached.

None of this will be easy. But to say it is impossibleignores the history of the peace process, which hasconsistently produced breakthroughs and gestures that notlong before were considered impossibilities. Oldshibboleths die, but far fewer people do, because of animperfect but still viable process.

When the Belfast Agreement was reached, eight long yearsago, I wrote a piece for the Boston Globe which sought toassess what it all meant. Not surprisingly, given hispenchant for short, trenchant verse, Michael Longley, theBelfast poet, had one of the best, most succinctdescriptions of its significance.

"Sometimes I feel Irish. Sometimes I feel British," Longleysaid.

"Often I feel neither. The Agreement allows me to feel moreIrish, more British and, just as importantly, moreneither."

In reaching out to Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams, VeraMcVeigh and Raymond McCord feel more neither. That has tobe a good thing.

• Kevin Cullen, former Dublin bureau chief of the BostonGlobe, has covered the conflict in Northern Ireland formore than 20 years

Eccentric former Catholic priest Neil Horan could facetrial in Germany after attempting to stage a stunt praisingAdolf Hitler outside the World Cup final in Berlin.

By:Press Association

The defrocked cleric, famed for disrupting sporting eventsacross Europe, planned to light a candle with aninscription that Hitler was a great leader at the front ofthe Olympic Stadium as the match kicked off on July 9.